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| Thursday, January 15 UPDATES |
WEDNESDAY RESULTS
THURSDAY RESULTS
4:00 PM
Tony Stewart is here at the Expo Center - I believe he arrived yesterday. But I don't think
he's planning on racing anything.
Tim McCreadie has no health insurance, so a fund has been established for donations for
him. Donations can be made to the U.S. Auto Club and sent to USAC c/o Tim McCreadie
Support Fund, USAC, 4910 West 16th Street, Speedway, Ind. 46224.
The whole Jones clan is here - Parnelli, PJ and Page, who proudly whipped out a photo of
his young daughter and son to show off to me. Page looks and sounds great, and he's
obviously enjoying his life.
The weather has gotten quite "chilly" here at the Chili Bowl, with temps only reaching 13
this afternoon, and dipping to about 6 tonight! Yikes!!
2:00 PM
Spoke with Billy Wease, who's racing on Friday. Billy was hand-picked as Roger Penske's
development driver after years of racing and excelling in various short-track divisions.
However, just this past December, after four years in that position, he was replaced in
Penske's development program by Justin Allgaier after testing a lot (and being the fastest
when he did), but never racing. He said that he doesn't have any set racing plans for this
year other than this Chili Bowl, and a trip to Daytona in February to work on some
options. He's trying to put together a NASCAR Nationwide Series ride (and father Bill says
he's close to a backer for that program), but if he does not get anything going in the stock
car world, he definitely wants to race USAC again.
Davey Ray is always a busy driver during the year, but he's one of the busiest during the
off season. He's running a potent Toyota out of Cruz Pedregon's stable here this week,
then on the Monday after the Chili Bowl, he's headed back Down Under to race in both
Australia and New Zealand - he's a regular on their schedule, and a fan favorite. His dad
indicated to me that Davey's not sure what he's doing full-time this year, but his dad has
"a couple of new cars coming out" that Davey could run.
12:00 PM
After missing last year's event (boo), I was surprised at the new A Qualifier format. After
hot laps, heat races, and the duel C Mains, they now run four A Qualifier races. Drivers
accumulate passing points in the heat races, then after those points are tallied, the top-40
in passing points get divided up into four 10-driver A Qualifiers. The passing points from
those races are added to the driver's point totals from the heats, and the top 16 in points
go to each night's A Main, and the rest are place in the dual B Mains. I really love this
format, as it gives the fans four more races with the best drivers showcased, and it gives
drivers a chance to make up for a bad heat race - it really places the best drivers in the
race that they deserve for their night's efforts.
Nice to see legendary racer and broadcaster Larry Rice here, looking in good health after
battling cancer for quite a while now.
Mike Hess had a great car Tuesday, but ran into a difficult time during the night. He
indicated to me that he'll run the full Badger midget schedule this year, and sprinkle in a
few POWRi races as well as some non-winged sprint shows.
10:00 AM
The racing action last night was amazing...again! Sammy Swindell OWNS this track! The
four-time Chili Bowl champ is also 4-for-4 this week, winning the Race of Champions on
Tuesday, then his heat, the A Qualifier and the A Main on Wednesday! Like him or not,
he's one of the best!
One of the most spectacular accidents I've seen here in Tulsa happened in the first A
Qualifier race when New York's Tim McCreadie's rear axle broke while he was leading the
race, sending him into a series of barrel rolls and up and over the turn one fence, clearing
it by a bunch, landing on a piece of equipment first, then on all fours, six feet below the
racing surface. The crowd knew this was a big one, and waited patiently for word of Tim's
health. We were all relieved to hear he was conscious and talking to the medical staff,
and moving around. He even was walking around after a few minutes. However, sadly,
word came later that he had been diagnosed with a broken back after a trip to the
hospital. No word as to the extent of that injury, though. Please keep Tim in your
thoughts and prayers. He's one of the good guys.
Spoke with Justin Allgaier briefly and questioned him about the note I wrote yesterday
regarding this possibly being his last midget race. He said Roger Penske said that it
MIGHT be his last short-track race, depending on how he does here. Me thinks Justin will
do whatever the boss says.
There's not much that changes about the Chili Bowl each year, but I tend to want to make
note of anything new, even if it's a small item. There's a new elevator that takes suite
ticket holders up to their perch above the frontstretch grandstands.
THURSDAY RESULTS
4:00 PM
Tony Stewart is here at the Expo Center - I believe he arrived yesterday. But I don't think
he's planning on racing anything.
Tim McCreadie has no health insurance, so a fund has been established for donations for
him. Donations can be made to the U.S. Auto Club and sent to USAC c/o Tim McCreadie
Support Fund, USAC, 4910 West 16th Street, Speedway, Ind. 46224.
The whole Jones clan is here - Parnelli, PJ and Page, who proudly whipped out a photo of
his young daughter and son to show off to me. Page looks and sounds great, and he's
obviously enjoying his life.
The weather has gotten quite "chilly" here at the Chili Bowl, with temps only reaching 13
this afternoon, and dipping to about 6 tonight! Yikes!!
2:00 PM
Spoke with Billy Wease, who's racing on Friday. Billy was hand-picked as Roger Penske's
development driver after years of racing and excelling in various short-track divisions.
However, just this past December, after four years in that position, he was replaced in
Penske's development program by Justin Allgaier after testing a lot (and being the fastest
when he did), but never racing. He said that he doesn't have any set racing plans for this
year other than this Chili Bowl, and a trip to Daytona in February to work on some
options. He's trying to put together a NASCAR Nationwide Series ride (and father Bill says
he's close to a backer for that program), but if he does not get anything going in the stock
car world, he definitely wants to race USAC again.
Davey Ray is always a busy driver during the year, but he's one of the busiest during the
off season. He's running a potent Toyota out of Cruz Pedregon's stable here this week,
then on the Monday after the Chili Bowl, he's headed back Down Under to race in both
Australia and New Zealand - he's a regular on their schedule, and a fan favorite. His dad
indicated to me that Davey's not sure what he's doing full-time this year, but his dad has
"a couple of new cars coming out" that Davey could run.
12:00 PM
After missing last year's event (boo), I was surprised at the new A Qualifier format. After
hot laps, heat races, and the duel C Mains, they now run four A Qualifier races. Drivers
accumulate passing points in the heat races, then after those points are tallied, the top-40
in passing points get divided up into four 10-driver A Qualifiers. The passing points from
those races are added to the driver's point totals from the heats, and the top 16 in points
go to each night's A Main, and the rest are place in the dual B Mains. I really love this
format, as it gives the fans four more races with the best drivers showcased, and it gives
drivers a chance to make up for a bad heat race - it really places the best drivers in the
race that they deserve for their night's efforts.
Nice to see legendary racer and broadcaster Larry Rice here, looking in good health after
battling cancer for quite a while now.
Mike Hess had a great car Tuesday, but ran into a difficult time during the night. He
indicated to me that he'll run the full Badger midget schedule this year, and sprinkle in a
few POWRi races as well as some non-winged sprint shows.
10:00 AM
The racing action last night was amazing...again! Sammy Swindell OWNS this track! The
four-time Chili Bowl champ is also 4-for-4 this week, winning the Race of Champions on
Tuesday, then his heat, the A Qualifier and the A Main on Wednesday! Like him or not,
he's one of the best!
One of the most spectacular accidents I've seen here in Tulsa happened in the first A
Qualifier race when New York's Tim McCreadie's rear axle broke while he was leading the
race, sending him into a series of barrel rolls and up and over the turn one fence, clearing
it by a bunch, landing on a piece of equipment first, then on all fours, six feet below the
racing surface. The crowd knew this was a big one, and waited patiently for word of Tim's
health. We were all relieved to hear he was conscious and talking to the medical staff,
and moving around. He even was walking around after a few minutes. However, sadly,
word came later that he had been diagnosed with a broken back after a trip to the
hospital. No word as to the extent of that injury, though. Please keep Tim in your
thoughts and prayers. He's one of the good guys.
Spoke with Justin Allgaier briefly and questioned him about the note I wrote yesterday
regarding this possibly being his last midget race. He said Roger Penske said that it
MIGHT be his last short-track race, depending on how he does here. Me thinks Justin will
do whatever the boss says.
There's not much that changes about the Chili Bowl each year, but I tend to want to make
note of anything new, even if it's a small item. There's a new elevator that takes suite
ticket holders up to their perch above the frontstretch grandstands.
| LIVE UPDATES from the 2009 "CHILI BOWL MIDGET NATIONALS" |